Welcome to Rationale
Podcasts
COMING SOON
FEATURED
Home to roost: Getting out of our housing mess
By David James, 16 May 2022
The progressive lowering of interest rates to almost zero since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 has triggered a house price bubble that has divided the community between older people, who bought at more reasonable levels, and younger generations, who purchased at higher levels.
The game of ever-cheaper debt came to an end when the Consumer Price Index (CPI) came in at 5.1 per cent over the year, the largest increase in inflation since 2000. The Reserve Bank increased interest rates by 0.25 per cent, the first jump in over 11 years. The wheel, it would seem, is turning.
How did we get into this mess?


"For those with large mortgages, the portents are not good, especially considering that Australian households are amongst the most indebted in the world."
Featured Articles
26
May
Changing the optics of politics
Almost everyone will have ideas on what should be the priorities for the incoming Albanese government.
While the manifesto was polic...
24
May
Liberal Party: Following the Christian right into electoral wilderness
Christian right lobby groups now have the Liberal Party they want – a lot more conservative and no doubt a lot more favourable to their...
23
May
Affirming same-sex marriage in the Anglican Church
Every three years, Anglicans from across Australia gather for our national synod, a five-day meeting to discuss important issues affect...
21
May
The question of conscientious objection in the voluntary assisted dying debate
Voluntary assisted dying (VAD) has been legal in countries such as Switzerland and the Netherlands for more than a decade.
In Austr...
19
May
Bertrand Russell’s universe
One hundred and fifty years ago on 18 May 1872 the philosopher Bertrand Russell was born. Of everything he said and wrote during his 97...
16
May
Home to roost: Getting out of our housing mess
Whoever wins this week’s election will inherit an Australian economy that is more distorted than it has been since the Second World War...
14
May
MBJ’s view
See current affairs through the eyes of cartoonist Matt Bissett-Johnson.
12
May
What the neoliberalism-hating left should love about markets
It is fashionable these days to dunk on markets. Show me something bad in the world and I’ll show you someone blaming it on ‘neoliberal...
09
May
Anzac Day: Religious services are turning veterans away
I didn’t attend the Anzac dawn service this year. In truth, I have not attended a dawn service for over a decade, instead preferring a ...
07
May
Mapping climate policy
As the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions becomes increasingly urgent, governments of all levels, as well as private businesses and n...
04
May
Trapped in a cycle of distrust
Australia and the rest of the world have had a couple of very rough years. Throughout the pandemic and its attendant restrictions, vacc...
02
May
Pill testing really does reduce the risk of harm for drug users
Days out from the event, festival goers for Canberra’s Groovin the Moo festival were told the event would no longer be offering a free ...
26
May
Changing the optics of politics
Almost everyone will have ideas on what should be the priorities for the incoming Albanese government.
While the manifesto was polic...
24
May
Liberal Party: Following the Christian right into electoral wilderness
Christian right lobby groups now have the Liberal Party they want – a lot more conservative and no doubt a lot more favourable to their...
23
May
Affirming same-sex marriage in the Anglican Church
Every three years, Anglicans from across Australia gather for our national synod, a five-day meeting to discuss important issues affect...
21
May
The question of conscientious objection in the voluntary assisted dying debate
Voluntary assisted dying (VAD) has been legal in countries such as Switzerland and the Netherlands for more than a decade.
In Austr...
19
May
Bertrand Russell’s universe
One hundred and fifty years ago on 18 May 1872 the philosopher Bertrand Russell was born. Of everything he said and wrote during his 97...
16
May
Home to roost: Getting out of our housing mess
Whoever wins this week’s election will inherit an Australian economy that is more distorted than it has been since the Second World War...